Book Information: Burning House, the

The characters are young men and women discovering what it means to be a grown-up in a country that promised them they'd stay young forever.

In The Burning House, Beattie's characters go from dealing drugs to taking care of a bereaved friend. They watch their marriages fail not with a bang but with a wisecrack. And afterward, they may find themselves trading confidences with their spouses' new lovers.

Edition #1: Burning House, the

"Reads like a fresh bulletin from the front: we snatch it up, eager to know what's happening out there on the edge of that shifting and dubious no man's land known as interpersonal relationships." The New York Times Book Review

"Burning brilliance...This collection of short stories is the work of a writer with a dazzling gift...Beattie's eye is clear, her ear finely tuned, her mind brilliantly odd...A Joy to read." Chicago Sun-Times